Little Moments Like This
by Jetstream Girge
Summary: Sometimes, it's not the big things that matter. It is those little moments that happen every now and then that make you appreciate someone.


**Hey there, everyone! Been busy lately, but I am starting to ease myself back into writing again. So I will be posting a couple one-shots before I return to Boundaries. In this fiction, I just want you to pull up the music for the Ponggo Hideout rest area on YouTube or something and listen to it as you read. Imagine Aisha, Elsword and Rena playing the piano, guitar and grass whistle respectively. I hope you enjoy these little moments!**

* * *

While it was certainly not in the best shape, she didn't expect the door to actually fall off its hinges when she tried to open it. The ruined slab of wood crashed onto the floor kicking up a cloud of dust and ash into her face.

"Ack!" she coughed, covering her nose and mouth with one of her arms as she fanned the lingering, airborne debris away with the other. She then heard rapid steps running up the stairs of the ruined home she was in.

"Aisha, are you okay!?" a voice cried from the stairwell just as a red-haired boy, not much younger than herself, leaped into the hallway, his hand resting on a greatsword slung across his back.

She waved a dismissive hand at him as she rubbed the dust out of her eyes with her sleeve. "I'm fine. The door just fell off the frame and the demons don't clean up their own messes," she joked, sending him a little grin.

He gave her a worried look, which meant she had to further reassure him. "Really, Elsword, everything's fine. This place is clear. I can handle myself if I need to, anyways." She summoned her staff and sent him a wink to emphasize her point.

To which he finally released his weapon and have her a jaded smile. "Alright, we'll be setting up shop here for today. Eve's on first watch, then me. Rena and Raven are cooking tonight."

Her eyes lit up with his as he said this. "Then, that means..." she started, a gleeful smile starting to play across her lips.

Elsword nodded. "Yep. We're having meat tonight."

"Thank Lady El." Aisha dismissed her staff and clapped her hands together in prayer, thanking the higher powers that Raven would provide them with protein that wasn't beans.

"Right? I can't wait for dinner." The Lord Knight let out a sigh of relief, letting his arms go slack at his side.

"Elsword? Can we get your help down here?" a voice called from downstairs that the two young adventurers recognized as their resident archer.

"Sure thing, Rena. On my way." Once he finished answering the elf, he turned to the mage, a small smile on his lips. "Alright, be careful Aisha. This place isn't in the best shape."

She gave him another dismissive wave. "Stop worrying, dork. If I fall through the floorboards you'll catch me."

He shook his head slightly at this before giving her an exaggerated bow. "As your knight, I am yours to command, My Lady."

She gave a false, haughty laugh at this. "My aren't you a gentleman," she chuckled, to which he instantly stood straight up and with the most neutral expression possible said...

"You wish, shorty."

Her eyebrow twitched. "Excuse me!?" she cried. It was so on. "I am not short, Eldork!"

"What was that!?" He walked briskly towards her until he stood barely two meters from her, where he started waving his stiff hand from the top of her head to his chin. "You look pretty short to me!"

It was so totally on.

She now did the most unladylike thing she could come up with: stick her tongue out at him. "At least my head is useful for more than as a battering ram!"

That really got him going. "WHAT!? I thought you were supposed to be older than me? So why are you sticking yo-"

"Elsword. Aisha. You two aren't fighting are you?" came Rena's icy voice from the floor below. They didn't have to see the elf to know they would be in for it if they kept going, so they both snapped their mouths shut and exchanged worried stares.

"O-Of course not, Rena. Hahaha..." Elsword called back nervously. "I'll be right down." He started to make his way back to the stairs before sending another worried look to the mage. "Seriously though, Aisha. Be careful, okay?"

A small sigh left her lips as she sent him a small smile. "Okay, Elsword. I'll be careful."

He nodded in satisfaction before turning around and making his way to the stairs, sending her a small wave as he walked away. "See you later," he said just as he stepped onto the staircase and finally left her sight.

"Ah..." Aisha found herself frozen as she waved back at those words. She couldn't really explain it, but those words hurt her. It was almost like he was leaving and never coming back.

Shaking her head to clear the new gloom, she stepped onto the fallen door from before and took in the room. It looked like it used to be some kind of atrium with a wide, shattered, panoramic window looking over the ruined Velder streets to Clock Tower Plaza Despite the ruined panes of glass, the room was in remarkably good shape for going through a demonic invasion. There was even a grand piano set up near the window, something that didn't pass Aisha's attention.

She strode to the big instrument and ran her hand over the key cover, brushing away the ash and dust on the pine wood. It looked like it was in good enough condition from the outside, so how was it...

She stepped to the instrument's side and heaved the cover up and propped it open with the latch provided. With a trained eye she evaluated its condition, and to her pleasant surprise found it to appear playable enough.

"It's been a while since I played last. I wonder..." When she was training with her master, one of his methods to improve her memorization was teaching her how to play a musical instrument.

Being the eager student that she was, she decided on the old stand up piano he had set up in his observatory. The Elemental Master smiled lightly as she remembered the grating cords she hit when she first started and how her master suggested that she was tone deaf. But, through dedication and stubbornness, she became a relatively accomplished pianist.

She was no prodigy at music, but she was at least capable enough to come up with some passable tunes that she would invent when her brain was fried from the magical research she always read. It was refreshing to create something with your own hands, in the literal sense.

But ever since she lost her magic she had stopped playing because she was focused on regaining her powers. But every time she caught sight of a piano during her journey, she felt a small regret bubble up from within her. She missed it, to be honest, and she had resolved back in Feita to sit down and play the next time she got a chance.

"Well, better now than later," she giggled to herself and set to the task of tuning the instrument. To her relief, it was still in tune despite clearly going through a demonic invasion.

She then righted the overturned stool, swept the debris off the seat and sat herself down. Lifting the key cover, she let out a light breath when she saw the ivory keys. This was not one of those cheap pieces made on a factory floor, this was a handcrafted piece of art. Great care had been taken in its creation, and its owners clearly maintained it well.

Taking in a deep breath, she set her fingers on the keys, double checking her range of motion and position, and then depressed F. The note rang through the room and made her shiver with glee. It had been so long since she last played indeed.

A light giggle bubbled from her chest and she started to play her scales, ramping up the pace with each repetition. Once she had played through those a couple times she clapped her hands together.

"Okay, all warmed up." She now had two options. She could either play a tune from memory or improvise.

After humming to herself in thought for a few seconds she decided to play something her master taught her. It was simple arrangement that had a couple runs up and down the keys with some simple cords thrown in here and there. Her fingers danced across the keys, filling the ruined inn with pleasing music. She climbed and fell across the octaves, her eyes closing in a trance.

How she missed this. While reading magical tomes was certainly her favorite pastime, this intoxicating feeling was now a fierce competitor for it. It was like all her worries and insecurities were in a different world, and this world of music was all that mattered.

Worries like: fighting off a demonic invasion in Velder. Trying to ignore Raven's very obvious sour mood, something that came up when they made the city under siege their next destination. Figuring out whether Eve had emotions or not. Dealing with Elsword...

Her fingers stopped as she thought of the Lord Knight.

Blessed El Lady, why did she feel her spine straighten a couple degrees every time she caught him looking at her? Why did she always feel the need to lecture him? Why does she always have to butt heads with him?

Why did she worry about him so much?

Their relationship had... changed somewhat since almost a year ago.

Back when they were hunting down Ruben's El, they practically hated each other on principle, though that hatred was more like a rivalry than anything. They still helped each other out when needed, but they would always argue over the silliest things, usually heads versus arms and height.

Then, during their excursion into Feita, they kind of drifted apart as they focused on becoming stronger. He trained in the way of the sword, while she relearned her elemental magic the hard way. Their arguments became less and less frequent, something that made her feel a little empty inside.

She missed those little moments she had with him.

Even though he drove her up the wall at times, she could honestly not see herself as she was now without him. He was her friend, and a great one at that. The little spat they had earlier was so rare now, which meant she was supposed to be getting along with him.

So why wasn't she content with that? Why did she feel a little sad every time Eve lectured him on his lack of maturity? Why did she feel like... she missed him?

"Oh come on, Aisha! Snap out of it!" She banged her head on the keys. "Why am I getting so gloomy over this!?"

Little did she know was that the red haired knight she was fretting over was quietly watching her from the doorway...

* * *

When he heard the piano at first, he thought it was a demon trick. He was about to sprint up the stairs, sword drawn when Rena assured him that she felt no demonic presence. So, he quietly ascended the steps and followed the music to find the Elemental Master putting on a little one-man - or rather girl in this case - show.

And wow, was she good. While it shouldn't surprise him that she would be skilled in something as mundane as piano playing, it still left him in awe as he watched her fingers dance across the keys.

Truth be told, he had a little talent in music himself, but his instrument of choice was the guitar. It was something he picked up to take his mind off his missing sister during his time alone in Ruben. He actually earned a few ED from passersby who enjoyed his tunes, not that he was actually looking for any kind of payment.

He carried it with him in his belongings as he and his new friends journeyed across Elrios, but he never found the time, or the drive to play it. After all, the reason he picked it up was because he needed a distraction from Elesis. Since he now traveled with companions, they filled that void, so it became little more than a relic of his lonely past. But he did make sure it was tuned whenever everyone was asleep. He would fish it out from his things and quietly tune it as to not wake the others, especially Rena, who he learned was just as scary grouchy as she was when mad.

He never really understood why he did that. He had no need for it, so why bother even making sure the thing sounded right?

That was when he realized it was because he enjoyed it, and consequently missed playing. So, when they left Feita, he made a promise to himself to play the next time he got a chance.

Maybe now was the time. Here was Aisha, playing a musical instrument herself. The guitar was still in his bag, all he had to do was go and get it.

As he stood there contemplating his next course of action, he noticed the music stopped. Shifting his wandering eyes to the mage he caught her slamming her head into the keys and muttering something to herself.

Was she upset at her performance? He thought she did great, so why was she throwing a tantrum?

He didn't get her. She always pretended, at least in his opinion, to be an older role model that others should follow. And whenever they would talk, it somehow almost always end in some kind of argument. Big, small, it didn't matter. They would disagree over anything.

But he liked that about her. Most people he knew before her would either agree with him to placate him or ignore him entirely. She was the first person he met that would butt heads with him. Literally, at times.

He loved having someone around to compete with. But ever since Feita, their little debates had become almost as rare of an occurrence as Raven smiling.

Their little moments had faded.

And he missed that. It was like she wasn't really around anymore. It was part of the reason he worried about her; if something happened to her...

Would he lose her? Lose his verbal sparring partner? But was that the whole truth? He wasn't sure.

But one thing he knew for sure was that seeing her in such a gloomy state made him sad. He wanted to go in and give her a little hug or something, but he was sure it would not make things any better. So, he quietly turned away from the door and made his way to the stairs, taking care not to alert the upset magician to his presence. As he crept down the steps, he found the Grand Archer and Blade Master waiting below.

Sensing their question through their worried eyes, he gave a small reassuring smile and wave of the hand.

 _It's fine, don't worry about it_ , they interpreted. Rena was about to say something, but Raven gave a small acknowledging nod before walking away. Glimpsing his acceptance of the situation, the elf turned to face him and, after sending one last concerned glance at Elsword, followed him.

Satisfied that the two wouldn't interfere further, he descended the stairs and walked to his bag. Rifling though his clothes and supplies and withdrew a simple guitar.

Not wasting a moment, he checked the pitch of every string. He thanked Lady El for giving him the dedication to keeping the thing tuned, because it was still perfect.

As soon as he finished he started for the stairs again when he heard another melody coming from the floor above. She had started playing again.

Grinning to himself he thought, _h_ _er solo was about to turn into a duet_...

* * *

What was she doing? She was supposed to be playing to forget her troubles, not remember them.

But she couldn't help it. Whenever she thought of Elsword, her mind would go in all different directions at once.

He just really, _really_ , _REALLY_ confused the Dark Continent out of her.

One second he is an immature brat like always, the next he is an El-freaking-Saint. She found that latter bit about him charming bu-

"AH! NONONONONO! Stop prettifying him, Aisha!" She grabbed her head and stopped her thoughts there before she could daydream about him sweeping her off her feet as he rode in on an Ancient Ph-

"AHHHHH! Stop fantasizing about him, Aisha!" She sprang from her seat and resorted to banging her head on the wall to get these crazy images out of her head.

Why was she getting so rattled by this? Why was she even fantasizing about him!?

He was an immature, meat-headed brat who was only courteous so he could turn around and make a joke out of it. He was also reckless, selfish, and a glory hound; always charging headfirst into the fight, getting beat up and just...

Worry her.

That was the one thing she couldn't wrap her head around. Whenever he pulled those stunts, she felt her body tense, her eyes would stick to him like he would disappear at any moment and her heart would leap anxiously into her throat. And it wasn't like he was the only one who charged in headfirst. Raven did it too, but she didn't worry about the Blade Master because... well, she didn't. That was Rena's job anyways.

And this concern wasn't because she thought he couldn't handle himself. He was capable of holding his ground when sparring Raven and was more than a match for most of the demons they encountered thus far.

This worry was closer to an irrational fear; a fear that something would happen to him. And it wasn't like she didn't worry about her other friends either, but Elsword was the only one who made her afraid.

Why was she afraid that he would get hurt? If he does it's his own fault. It shouldn't be her problem. Yet despite her brain telling her these things, she still wrung her hands every time an enemy prepared to attack. What if he didn't dodge or block in time? What if-

She sighed to break her rambling thoughts. She would be thinking in circles at this rate, and that would make this whole endeavor to play completely irrelevant.

So, with a still muddled brain, she sat herself down on the stool and spread her fingers across the keys. She stared at the keys as if they held all the answers to life's problems before letting out a small sigh.

"Maybe if I improvise that will help..." she muttered to herself. Making up your own composition on the fly should take more brain power than it would to remember something you already know. She ran a few initial notes and chords in her head before finally depressing the keys once again.

Now she made it up as she went, slowly climbing and falling across the scales with single notes. She would toss in a chord where it seemed appropriate.

She smiled slightly as the image of the Ponggo hideout came to her mind. It seemed her music was reminiscent of that waterfall that fell from the floating island's interior into the sky below it. It was entrancing to say the least, not that she almost walked off the edge because she was captivated by it. Not at all.

But it felt a bit... lonely. Like she was the only one there with no one to share it with. But she carried on, hoping her brain would come up with a way to ease that.

And then, as she about to start a new section, a new sound reached her ears. It sounded like a guitar. Not like the one Noel carried around. And it was a accompanying her tune; Very well in fact. The plucking of the strings climbed and fell along with her fingers in perfect harmony.

Daring a glance at the new musician she caught sight of a head of red hair. Though confused at first, she thought little on it as she turned back to the piano and continued playing with a smile on her face.

The sound the duet was creating was too good for her to stop. And besides, she was actually very happy that he was here.

It was one of those little moments she had been missing. These moments where she felt closer to the young knight, where she felt like he wasn't going anywhere...

* * *

Rena giggled slightly as she heard Elsword join Aisha in her solo. It made her happy to see the two supporting each other despite how awkward it had been for them for the past few months.

Raven gave her a confused look. "You seem happy," he said as he checked the oven to see if it was still functional or if he had to get Eve to fix for dinner.

The elf turned and beamed at him. "Of course I am. Besides, they are playing such lovely music." She started to unpack the salad and other greens from a Nasod ice chest Eve scrapped together for them.

The Blade Master couldn't help but smile slightly. "Yeah, it is nice isn't it..." He tilted his head to stare at the floorboards of the level above. While he wasn't particularly gifted in music, he still enjoyed listening to it.

Seeing her companion's little smile, Rena heaved a small sigh of relief. "It's good to see you smile again, Raven. You've had nothing but a sour look on your face since we arrived in Velder."

Raven averted his eyes slightly. "My face is always like that..." He should know better than to try and hide anything from Rena. Whether it was because of her elven heritage, her sniping specialty or just her own sharp perception, she could always see when something was bothering someone.

Especially when it was him. While he wasn't one to brag, he thought himself as difficult to read. But this elf had near X-ray vision when it came to him.

Yes, something was bothering him, and it had to do with this city; his home that took everything away.

His smile faded as those memories came back, causing Rena's eyebrows to knead into a worried tilt. It seemed that she had touched on a sensitive topic, which caused her friend to start withdrawing into his shell. His remark about his face was a passive way to tell her to drop it. So she would, but she wanted to see that smile again. But how to get him to smile was the hard part, since he obviously didn't want to hold a conversation anymore.

As she racked her brain, her eyes fell on the salad. It was a mix of leafy greens she had picked as they left Feita. Fortunately, none of them were those demonically possessed tentacles. She shivered slightly as she remembered that encounter, but she snapped out of it when she realized there was something in there that wasn't supposed to be.

It was a fistful of grass, likely from Elsword or Aisha trying to poke fun at her. Since she never ate meat, they often said that she grazed like an ancient phoru. So one of them probably thought it would be funny to sneak that into the salad when she wasn't looking.

But instead of her usual annoyed huff at this childish prank, she was struck with inspiration. She plucked the blades from the leaves and quickly picked one out of the bunch, discarding the rest. It was just firm, but moist enough.

Looking to Raven, she fiddled with the blade of grass in her fingers. "Hey, Raven. Have you ever heard an elven whistle before?"

He gave her a baffled look, which was her cue to close her eyes, bring the grass to her lips and blow.

What followed was a melodious tone as the air from her lips vibrated the fibers on the grass. Moving the blade ever so slightly and adjusting her lips and fingers as needed, she hit a variety of pitches that were in perfect harmony with the duet upstairs.

Raven could only stare at the elf in wonder as she played. He had heard that it was possible for one to create music with a mere blade of grass, but to see it in actual practice left him speechless. And the fact that she was actually pretty good at it made it even more wonderful.

He found himself forgetting all his troubles, past and current, in this music. It was lovely to listen to, and something in the back of his mind said that this was what she wanted; To see him happy and smiling.

And he was okay with that.

So he couldn't help but smile at her as she continued on. If only little moments like this continued forever...

* * *

 **And that's that! I hope you enjoyed it. This was something I've been chipping away at for a couple of weeks on my phone. Please Read and Review. Until next time!**


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